Awards

• Short-listed for BP Natural World Book Prize 1999
• Shortlisted for BP Natural World Book Prize 1999.

Overview

The authorised biography of the great naturalist and conservationist Gerald Durrell, who died aged seventy in January 1995 in Jersey, where he founded the zoo he’d dreamed of as a small boy and pioneered the captive breeding of animals for conservation. Gerald Durrell was a world-famous naturalist and popular author who wrote, in all, some thirty-seven immensely readable yarns, including the bestselling ‘My Family and Other Animals’. His other books include ‘Birds, Beasts and Relatives’, ‘The Bafut Beagles’ and ‘A Zoo in My Luggage’. Above all, he paved the way in print for the popular presentation of the natural world on television and presented twelve series himself – the early ones, of his own expeditions. Sir David Attenborough has said: ‘He was responsible for changing people’s attitudes to zoology and changing their agenda. He showed them small animals could be as interesting as apes and elephants…He was a pioneer with a marvellous sense of humour.’ His brother was the famous writer Lawrence Durrell.

Full Product Details

9780006387305

Table of Contents

Reviews

A portly, respectful biography of the late British conservationist, author, and raconteur. Like his better-known brother, the novelist and travel essayist Lawrence Durrell, Gerald Durrell (1925-95) was born in India and lived in England only under protest: That mean, shabby little island wrung my guts out of me and tried to destroy anything singular and unique in me, wrote Lawrence bitterly, and Gerald was inclined to agree. Although he would regard England as his home for most of his life, Gerald Durrell spent as much time as he could away from the island, traveling widely around the world in pursuit of his zoological interests and exploring deserts, savannas, mountains, and jungles far afield. Botting (One Chilly Siberian Morning, 1967) provides a thoroughly documented account of Durrell's itinerary, charting his development from amateur to professional naturalist whose books, such as My Family and Other Animals, were once widely read. Botting does an especially good job of addressing Durrell's many contributions to wildlife conservation; among other things, Durrell founded the Jersey Zoo, which helped protect dozens of endangered species, and he advised many governments on programs to protect indigenous animals. For these contributions alone, Botting suggests, Durrell deserves to be remembered today - even while divorcing him, Durrell's wife was moved to remark, As a champion of the animal world and a pioneer of animal conservation he was one of the great men of our age, and his immense contribution to the cause is only now beginning to sink in. But Botting avoids hagiography, and he does offer a capable accounting of other aspects of Durrell's life as a writer, lecturer, sometime celebrity, and bon vivant. The result is a solid, engaging biography that will appeal to Durrell's admirers - and perhaps, with good cause, earn him a few more. (Kirkus Reviews)

A biography of this size, even of such a popular figure as conservationist and zoologist Durrell, requires considerable justification, and this book perhaps does not entirely succeed in presenting him as 'one of the great figures of the age', as the blurb puts it. It tells very fully the story of his growing interest in the world of animals, of his life as writer and television pundit, and as a pioneer of modern zoos. The history of his often difficult personal life, his melancholia and his relationship with his brother, Lawrence, have also been thoroughly researched. Although over-long, this book will appeal strongly to those who remember Durrell or share his love of animals. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Douglas Botting’s biography of Gavin Maxwell was hugely praised and is still in print as a HarperCollins paperback. His previous books reflect his interest in travel, exploration and wild places. He was an exploration filmmaker for the BBC’s World About Us and became a full-time writer with the publication of his highly praised biography of the German explorer-naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, Humboldt and the Cosmos. His biography of Gerald Durrell, published in March 1999, was highly praised.

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